U.S.-China tensions are through the roof

Chinese media outlets have blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for making a “lunatic” statement saying that he "could cut off the whole relationship" with China. Some of them have made an aggressive remark to attack Taiwan if Washington severs the U.S.-China relations. Meanwhile, the prime target of Washington is reportedly Chinese-based companies listed in the U.S. stock market.

The Global Times, a sister newspaper under the People's Daily, criticized President Trump’s remark as “lunacy” in its editorial on Friday. “China should be prepared for a partial or complete decoupling in vital sectors, including technology, the economy, humanities, and social sciences,” it argued.

The newspaper gave President Trump raw criticism saying, “Trump is like a cornered beast doing something desperate,” and “Is Trump totally insane?”

“In the past, we didn't solve the Taiwan question because we wanted to maintain the China-US relationship, and if the U.S. unilaterally cuts it off, we can just reunify Taiwan immediately since the Chinese mainland has an overwhelming advantage to solve this long-standing problem," said Jin Canrong, the associate dean of Renmin University of China's School of International Studies in Beijing.

President Trump told Fox Business on Thursday that his administration is looking "very strongly” at mandating Chinese companies to follow U.S. accounting standards when they pursue an IPO in the U.S. stock market. He may intend to consider imposing sanctions against Chinese companies on NYSE or NASDAQ that do not stick to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which U.S. firms have followed. Washington has reportedly made some preparations to attract semiconductor and pharmaceutical fabricators and suppliers to the United States as a way to ostracize China from the global supply chain.

Meanwhile, risks of accidental conflict between Washington and Beijing are mounting due to the ever-escalating military tensions over South China Sea and Taiwan. According to CNN, the United States is increasing military pressure on China by dispatching battleships and strategic bombers to South China Sea.


Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com · Yong Park parky@donga.com